Hummingbirds Make an Incredible Journey North

 It’s time to think about hummingbirds? Now?

Sure, it may be winter, but I’m waiting for an almost magical green shimmer hovering and zipping among the first flowers of spring. Which is definitely not possible at my place , because I'm in INDIA , but at least i can surf online. 

                                     

That’s right, it’s almost time to hang your hummingbird feeders. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have already been sighted in the southern U.S. and will arrive in more Eastern US states in the coming months.

Migration in a Changing World

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds may seem like a common species of little concern, but as climate changes, scientists are concerned that their migration may fall out of synch with food sources. Every calorie counts for hummingbirds on their grueling migration.

                              

Hummingbirds have such a fast metabolism that they’re always on the edge of starvation,” Howard says. “They typically eat every fifteen minutes. They gorge before migration, almost doubling their weight in the week before they leave.”

Even so the journey takes so much energy that it is essential for them to find a habitat with food sources immediately when they arrive in the southern US.

“They may only need that habitat for a matter of hours, but without it they just couldn’t complete migration,” Howard explains.

The Nature Conservancy protects habitat along the Gulf of Mexico and in other areas to provide refuge to hummingbirds and other returning migratory birds.

                                       

    

“One of the most important things that citizen science does is generate questions,” says Howard. “With so many people watching even for a common species like the ruby-throat, they may see things that are not conventional scientific wisdom.”

                                   

For example, observations in recent years call into question how ruby-throats decide when to migrate.

“In spring 2012, there was a heat wave. Most years, hummingbirds appear to migrate in response to daylight — they usually move in lock-step with day lengths,” Howard reports. “That year we got reports farther north and far earlier than ever before for hummingbirds. Normally around April 1st we would see hummingbirds at 38° N and that year they were at 48° N — about 500 miles ahead of where they would typically be.”